YMCA's Director to Join Schools

Ex-Counselor to Run Outreach Program

By Kameel Stanley

Originally published at 5:03 p.m., August 7, 2008
Updated at 12:00 a.m., August 10, 2008

The Loudoun County school system has hired the executive director of the county's YMCA to be its new outreach supervisor, replacing an official whose firing drew protests from minority organizations.

Wendall T. Fisher, a longtime Loudoun resident and former School Board member who has served as the YMCA's leader for eight years, will replace Beverly Bennett-Roberts, who was fired in June.

Sharon Ackerman, the school district's assistant superintendent for instruction, said Fisher's roots in the community and contacts with business and civic organizations will be an asset. "He is just one of the most sincere people," she said. "Wendall is well known throughout the county."

School officials received many applications for the administrative position, Ackerman said. An eight-member panel interviewed four candidates who were from in and outside the district.

Fisher, a 54-year-old Sterling resident, will begin his new job Aug. 25, about a week before classes start.

At the YMCA, senior program director Laura Kiyota will become interim executive director.

As outreach supervisor, Fisher will oversee the school system's parent-liaison and volunteer programs, literacy workshops in the community and the work of teams that promote equity in education, according to the job description.

He will basically do what Bennett-Roberts did, although some parts of the outreach program — such as literacy efforts — will be emphasized more, Ackerman said.

Bennett-Roberts, who became the system's first outreach supervisor in 2005, received her first evaluation last winter. It said her performance was unsatisfactory and questioned her loyalty.

But she had strong support from the county's minority community. Teachers, parents and organizations representing minorities, including the NAACP and La Voz of Loudoun, lobbied for months on her behalf, asking school officials to renew her contract. Many said they felt that for the first time, they had a voice in the district through Bennett-Roberts.

Fisher said he's not afraid of transitioning into his new job or of addressing residents' concerns. He said that he met Bennett-Roberts only once but that his impression was that she was "a fine lady."

His said his focus is bringing people together to do whatever is necessary to make young people successful, Fisher said.

"We must go forward," he said. "We will get there together. I don't believe in fractions."

Outreach work is nothing new to Fisher, who came to the YMCA 15 years ago after working in counseling at a youth shelter and a maximum-security prison. And he has worked with students, even before his tenure as an at-large School Board member from 1995 to 1999.

As a volunteer, he transformed Loudoun's in-school detention program, Ackerman said, by focusing on helping students overcome issues they were facing. She said the program almost became "the place to be" because of the interest Fisher took in students' lives.

"He just has an instant connection with kids," Ackerman said. "In a way, I think he feels like he's coming back home." At the YMCA, he is known by children as "Mr. Fisher," the adult who shakes their hand each time he sees them.

Reaching out is "basically what I've been doing all my life in Loudoun County," Fisher said of his new role. "It's a natural fit for me."

Tagged: diversity, education, Loudoun County Public Schools, schools

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